hullsoulie

As stated before there will be no definitive answer, but for me it is THE MUSIC, first and foremost. I used to love dimly lit halls with seating around the outside and where you could see dancers more than 10m away only in silhouette - I am a friendly chap but apart from being polite and considerate normally on the floor and at the bars just nodded and smiled at people I recognised from other venues. I used to reach my own 'communion' with the music and would have had to have been dragged out if the building was on fire - I miss all that, the Clifton Hall, Wilton Ballroom, Tony's Empress type scene I have not attended a nighter for 5 years due to the following: (please bear in mind this is only my opinion, everyone else has an equal right to agree to differ) Pissheads coming in to see what 'Norvern' is all about People of a certain age demographic treating it as a live Tinder event People dancing like buffoons and taking the piss People in fancy dress Brightly lit venues/dancefloors People waving video cameras around People taking hundreds of photos of attendees, which invariably look like we've been dug up and have teeth like burnt fences (I include myself in that) 'Funky House' at Soul do's The fact that I can still listen to THE MUSIC for at least an hour each day walking to work, running or just alone in my room keeps me sane, perhaps I am a luddite and things will never go back to that way again but the last outings I really enjoyed was the Polish club in Oldham about 5 year ago when Benny Troy (RIP) appeared live and Radcliffe all niters around the same time - they had all I describe in my second paragraph and NONE of the 'bullet points' I regret if any of the above causes offence, twas never my intent but by hell this opportunity has been cathartic for someone who rarely posts. If most of the aficionados ARE enjoying and i'm an outlier that's fine, the wants of the many outweigh the wants of the few

With apologies, as these weren't requests to DJs, but to record sellers, in the same night at Keele about 25 year ago my Hull mate (who knows his soul but must have been having a bad night) asked Rob Smith how much a copy of Dennis Edwards - JOGGING on the spot would go for and then asked Roger Banks what he may expect to shell out for a copy of GRIZZLY Adams - I can't escape from you!! (the ever polite Roger said 'isn't that the big bearded bloke with a bear??!!) - I kid you not, both of these on the SAME night - of course as a close friend I only mention it..........about every time I see him!

Haven't read all this thread so there is a chance I offered my two-pennorth worth years ago, but..... I hit 16 in 1980, unlike some of my school-mates who DID attend Wigan I never did, started at Clifton Hall, hitch-hiking every nighter with a mate, first to Thorne near Donny, then a 2p bus ride to Rotherham - spent many a morning after a nighter huddled under a motorway bridge like a drowned rat and wondering how/when we'd get home - Youth Opportunities Program (my arse) only paid £29 per week so take your board off and resources were limited. Most of the younger attendees from Hull were terrace urchins too, saving up for a trip to the North West to get stuff nobody in Hull had, as soon as we walked into Clifton Hall it was inevitable that like would identify, and interest, like - among the older lads in patch festooned vests, flares and brogues if we saw someone in a Slazzy tank top over a Le Coq t-shirt with tight jeans on and Kio Riders/Trainers we were drawn, first to stare/suss, then macho posturing, then finally making chat with each other - that's how I met Boro lads like Paul 'The Brick' Debrick and his mates, and some lads from Sheff Utd - many of these (who have not been sadly lost over the years) are still in contact and attend nighters together. I am fully aware that many of the older attendees would probably have equally 'full' terrace cv's from the early/mid 70s, but us younger element always seemed to stick together and do our own thing. Made me smile re the posts about QPR and White City as I moved to London for a decade 89-99 and lived in W3/W6 - I used to drink in the Goldhawk, Smuts and Springbok and it certainly was a tasty 'manor' Speaking of the Soul Crew, they played at Craven Cottage circa 94-95? and I was sat outside the Golden Gloves/Suffolk Punch down Fulham Palace rd when a large mob arrived, sure a mixture of Fulham, QPR and maybe even a few Chelsea (MG ran with both of them at that time) some Cardiff vans pulled up, there was a bit of a stand off, throwing of bottles etc - I stood up and faced the Welsh lads, not out of a love of violence or bravado but the fact they were hoying stuff at me - when it calmed down some of the Londoners nodded to me and I heard one of them say 'Facking Leeds have sent a spotter down' in reference to my Yorkshire rose tattoo - I didn't have the heart to tell him I lived 300m away off King St Hammersmith. As other posters have stated, as you mature you realise we're all the same, just from a different postcode and with a different accent - but many of the main Hull soulies of my era were football lads Many thanks for reading

Spot on Byrney, must be summat in the DNA of gents of my/our vintage who partook of that particular scene at that time, but the lack of 'sideys' and amount of wedges was the first thing i noticed about that vid when they are all leaving in the morning

RebelSoul, To echo what many other posters have said - there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to dance, and nobody has to earn the right to be on that dancefloor. When i started hitching around the country to nighters in the early 80's, the 'terrace' mode of dress made us stand out from the older patrons at the time, took me a while to learn that a pair of good brogues moved a fella my size across the floor better than Adidas strap trainers or Kio Riders! One thing I have always found heart-warming is that people doing their own thing were not derided, there was a chap at Clifton Hall who's style was more akin to pogo-ing, and at Wilton ballroom a decade later there was a West Yorks chap who had a similar........ahem...unique style, but as a regukar visitor to venues thru the wee hours, it was obvious he had, like the rest of us, a love of the music. I used to love nothing better than finding a dark corner or some space on the periphery of a dancefloor and 'losing myself' in the music, eyes closed and silently mouthing the words to tracks I love. Am sure there were some extrovert & gregarious really tidy dancers who loved to show the crowd what they were capable of, but for me it was a personal odyssey achieving a kind of Sufi-communion every weekend - and I cannot tell you how much it meant to me. 'Newbies' - we were ALL 'Newbies' at one time, I judge nobody, deride nobody and hopefully always exhibit courtesy on and off the dancefloor. Since my private trysts in dimlit church-halls/ballrooms have been replaced by people recording footage of the dancefloor and they all seem to have 'picture galleries' where people Cheshire cat on cue to cameras pointed at them, I have stopped going, which breaks my heart more than I can tell you, but things are cyclical, and times may change - until then you are welcome to the (not inconsiderable) space vacated by my absence. Enjoy, and just be you- if you stick at it and get even 100th of the joy the music has given me over the years, in later life you will consider yourself blessed. Best regards from Hull

Thank you my friend, appreciate you taking the time to post and put me out of my misery

Would be most grateful if anyone can identify the track in this clip please - new one on me (am sure very well known to many others) Captivated me, can't stop playing it over and over in a loop Many thanks in advance for putting me out of my misery

Knew Boasey & Clarky well mate, Boasey passed away sadly about 18mth-2 yr back - know who you'll mean by Mike (the black chap) - also know 2 of the 3 gents you mentioned - still see Paz - although i couldn't comment on their propensity for....ahem..transgressing any laws Remember Andy Galloway too, tall brown haired lad with a tache (probably described half of S.Yorks at the time ;~) ) Andy G was 'seeing' a lass called Diane Gallagher from Hull, came thru with a couple of Sheff mates to a house party in Hessle - as per in those days, alcohol & testosterone mixed badly and made the accent you spoke with and your postcode a far bigger deal than it should EVER be, all went a bit 'Bertie' and ended in tears............. Shame, as i got on with all of em - and yes, you may well have been in company back in the day mate - cheers for the post

Hello mate, think 2 times football prediction league winner

Thank you both for taking the time to read and respond - one thing i meant to include was something that has baffled me across the years - the mob who used to appear half way thru the niter - blowing whistles - were they............ The Preston street dancers - ie; some 'street dancers' from Preston? OR The Preston St dancers - some dancers from Preston St in some un-named town/city? Can you believe that has from time to time occupied my mind over the last decades - i need to get out more! ;~)

Good evening to all — just sat here with some soul CD on (sorry OVO folk!) and a few cans of ale, reminiscing about my youth, and thought I would share with anyone who has 5-10 mins to spare to read — apologies for the length The time — 1981 — I had just left school in my home town of Hull and full of a yearning for freedom, adventure and new experiences — wanted to throw off the yoke of my first job (which had already bored the shite out of me) and spread my wings. First admission — I NEVER WENT TO WIGAN CASINO......phew, that was cathartic — I know thousands did visit that magical place, but also get the feeling many who didn’t attend like to lay claim to being a regular — at the age I was when it was at its zenith, my parents wouldn’t have stood for that, although some of my school age peers used to go on the coaches that left Hull, and I am sure if you were a young un who lived closer you may have frequented the place — I know I wish I had, but I didn’t so that’s that. I used to hear all the records the elder Hull folk brought back at house parties, and watch them dance, fascinated — a far cry from the stuff that passed for Northern at the youth club. A mate of mine, who had been to the Casino, told me about a place in Rotherham, and did I fancy hitching it there with him — I agreed, so on that eponymous Friday night in 1981 I set off, clad in a pair of Jumbo cords, a t-shirt under a Slazenger jumper, and that most functional of dance footwear — NOT — Kios (Stan Smith copy but in Burgundy) I remember our first lift, a boring (although we WERE grateful) old fella who regaled us with complaints about the noise levels of music nowadays — he was going as far as Thorne near Doncaster and dropped us off near a bridge over the road — before that night we didn’t know Thorne existed, but found a chippy and then a bus that went to Donny — then got a connecting one to Rotherham. One thing that absolutely flipped us was that in S.Yorks, you could go miles on a bus for 2p (public transport must have been subsidised) — amazing but a right Brucie Bonus when you were on YOP wages (I use the term loosely) of ~£27 a week. We arrived at Clifton Hall after walking up the hill/slope, paid in and, although I didn’t know it at the time, I experienced a musical epiphany — a dimly lit hall with chairs and tables around the dancing area and NO MIRROR BALLS! I recall going for a lag and being amazed at all these older chaps stripping, washing and changing their tops after a spray of Brut — I wouldn’t have even been noticed by these old hands - jeez, anyone with a tache was a 'mister' at that age, but I was keenly clocking fashions etc, vests, flares, shoes, so different to what I was wearing — I can still vividly recall one lad with the legend ‘Yorkshire Born, Yorkshire Bred, Strong in the Arm and Good in Bed’ in a scroll down his upper arm — class wording I thought and made me inwardly chuckle at the time. And so began a love affair with the venue, and the music, that still burns strong over 3 decades later (as if anyone on this forum needs that pointing out — talk about ‘preaching to the converted!’) Unsullied by any musical prejudices — I knew NOTHING — I would happily try and move on the floor to anything that caught my ear — a mix as eclectic as; Leon Bryant — Mighty Body (Hotsy Totsy) Daybreak — I need Love Billy Nicholls — Diamond Rings TR5 — Cant wait much longer Moses Dillard — Pretty as a picture Pat Lewis — No-one to love I could watch good dancers all night — kept ourselves to ourselves mostly, but one lass I do remember was a short haired girl called Diane from Chesterfield — she had a unique dancing style that earned her the sobriquet ‘the Chesterfield Chicken’ not in a nasty way may I hasten to add, she was an attractive lass and an ‘older woman’ to us, although probably only in her early-mid 20’s at the time. I was also introduced to gear at that age — one of the faces from Hull who attended handed me a handful of pills one night and told me to go and take them, they’d keep me ‘up’ all night — being naturally cautious I took one and pocketed the rest, although the official line was that I’d ‘done em all’ for bravado — that approach allowed me to gauge my tolerance and what level of ‘assistance’ I needed without blindly being too off my tits to appreciate the music. We met good young lads from Sheffield & Boro at these nighters, like us they were ‘proto-casuals’ with an interest in terrace culture and we stood out with our fledgling wedge hairstyles and mode of dress. Some of the escapades we had hitching were, looking back on them, quite harum scarum — ranging from a car load of big miner types pulling up on the M18 and shouting ‘GET IN THIS CAR NOW!’ — me and my mate thought we were being kidnapped and imagined all sorts done to us — they were good as gold and just wanted to prevent us getting nicked for thumbing it on the motorway — to the time an artic lorry driver let us in the back with his cargo — a load of massive wooden packing crates with metal corners, that weren’t secured and flew across the container toward us every time we turned a corner — was like a game of human pinball in there and 2 very relieved young lads when he let us out. I have never collected records, couldn’t tell you the catalogue numbers of rare releases, would never be in the ‘top dancer’ category, but I still listen to a couple of hours rare soul EVERY day, and would say that my love for this music of ours is the equal of anyone — apart from my family I have never found anything that fills my life with so much happiness and fulfilment — on a dance floor, eyes closed in rhapsody and achieving something akin to ‘communion’ with the music like a Sufi mystic — I can only pay homage to the fates that led me to the altar of my youthful worship — CLIFTON HALL — are the times different? — inevitably — would I like any of my sons hitching across the North in search of youthful high-jinks — well yeah, but I’d worry sick........oh, and if I could find the couple who were heading to Batley market one Saturday morning and found two drenched and shivering urchins under a motorway bridge and decided they could just as well go to Withernsea market instead (just to give us a lift home) — I would shake your hand with gratitude undiminished by the years — what a lovely act of selflessness. Thank you to anyone who has persevered — Clifton Hall memories may have been done to death on here before — if so apologies for my variation on a theme

I have had the bad fortune to experience this on a couple of occasions, and the good fortune that in over 30 years of attending it has been very rare. In each occasion i can attribute a common demoninator of the culprits being well oiled, and also not a massive aficionado of soul music as a genre (i know this for a fact as i know them) I tend to go more for nighters now, Radcliffe etc, and Mr Bicknell's inaugral Bury one, as, even with the late bar, i think most pissheads wouldn't go out ther way to pay £10-12 to stay up all night in a venue playing music they didn't know or particularly like, and where the opposite sex aren't aprticularly interested in 'getting to grips' with them on the dancefloor. Although I am a hippy at heart and non-confrontational, i am of a size and ability to defend myself (i hope) even though my best days are behind me, i worked the doors for a few years in the 80's and this ilk are nothing new to me, a good % of my social circuit may be classed as 'social handgrenades', they're not the crowd i socialise with (or would want to accompany me) to Soul nights/nighters. I really hope common sense prevails, i had 7 pints at the last nighter i attended, yet would still be affable and courteous to everyone i encountered, it's the individual that has the problem, not a few pints of grog. Sorry to hear these reports, hope they remain the exception, and that the individuals can be 'locally banned' - they donlt sound like the sort who would travel 100+ miles to a venue, so hopefully will soon be eradicated. Thanks for taking the time to read, not many subjects get me animated enough to post, but this one did.....

As you can see I don't post much, as no absolute right and wrong, just opinions, but please may i offer my personal take on this. At my age and size, could not possibly have the elegance and grace of the really good technical dancers there are about, but love nothing better than a night out on the floor, where, i hope, i at least move in time to the music. Having said that, i don't dance for anyone but myself, sometimes spending more time on the dancefloor than off it, getting a high and what i can only describe as communion with certain tracks, almost like a Sufi dervish! I prefer the venue to have subdued lighting as am a naturally shy person, when i think back to going on the dancefloor i can't believe i do it sometimes, half the time i have my eyes half closed and am that myopic without my glasses i cant see further than 10m amyway! There will always be the detailed focussed among us who will concentrate on cataloging serial numbers and commiting writing credits to memory, those of a more autocratic 'bent' that know the best way forward for all and will try and boss the scene in that direction, the friendly ones who greet old friends with a smile and a hug and the gregarious extroverts who like to perform in front of an audience. I feel that ALL of these types add 'something' to the rare soul scene, i am often at a loss to why i love getting on the dancefloor so much, i'm certainly not that good at it, but the fact i dance in my kitchen with a can and my mp3 and find myself semi-dancing on the way to work shows i don;t do it for anyone else, just for myself. Best wishes to all, hope we can all continue to be tolerant of those that deviate from our personal 'way' of doing things Cheers

Hi Ali, Nice post, thanks for taking the time to respond.......wholeheartedly agree, was good to see you at Radcliffe also, long time since Bradford Queens Hall - hope to bump into you on our travels soon. Take care x

MT - thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my post, your says so succinctly what i was trying to say, and in a fifth of the words! Next time i'll ask if you could truncate my posts for me! Wise words mate - KTF

Hi, I have only posted a handful of times before, but wonder if i may offer my thoughts on a topic that seems current.....? I am in my late 40's, started attending soul nighters at Clifton Hall, Rotherham circa 81-82, and since then have sporadically attended soul do's all over the country, from Stafford to the 100 Club, Blackburn to St Ives etc as so many of you will have done.....however.....i have never collected, i listen to 'soul' music for 2 hours every day travelling to/from work, and i will forever be thankful i found music that can both make the hairs on my neck stand up or nearly reduce me to tears of joy....i really envy those born years before me who did Wigan, Torch, Wheel, Catacombs etc.. Over the last 3-4 years i have not ventured much further than local nights and weekenders but always imagined 'us' to be one big, tolerant, 'family' whose common love for the genre transcended any smaller differences. I've always believed there are only opinions in life, no absolute right and wrong, whether it be choice of literature, politics, football teams etc etc, but just lately all i seem to read/hear is divisive sniping, where upfront people taking the scene forward are at odds with dinosaur handbaggers covered in talc! (terms i've read, not mine!) I don't like to categorise myself in either of those, as stated i have never collected, know very little about the actual tracks, could not tell you the catalogue numbers of releases on Shrine, or who wrote them, i could probably not even define an 'oldie' - i used to get C90 cassettes compiled by DJs - i must have close to 200 with ~40 tracks on each, with little duplication, yet i can attend a soul night that consists of 80% i have never heard before, such is the wealth of material uncovered for people like me by collectors over the decades, for which i thank them and am grateful. I am always looking to hear a new track (to me) that blows my mind, but after a hard weeks work, when i splash on the aftershave and attend a do, i do like a fair portion of that night to be stuff i know so i can take to the dancefloor and lose myself in the music. One of the best quotes i read on here a short time ago was (apologies if i get it wrong) that a gent called Pete Lawson had said to someone that the definition of a great track is that it sounds as great when you next hear it as it did when you first heard it - that sums it up for me........ My point? sorry, i'm rambling away here knowing what i want to say but finding it hard to articulate...why does one person have to be 'right' and another 'wrong' - why does one soul do sneer in an elitist stylee at another one for their policy, or promoters? I have attended Bradford, Radcliffe, Drax and a few others in the past 3 months and have had great times at them all, albeit some better than others - some i will definately attend again, others i may choose to miss, but i will certainly not slag any of them off, either in private or public I sometimes attend soul nights where much of the music is 'new' to me - if so, albeit frustrated at not getting my time in on the dancefloor, i try and source playlists and see whats on YouTube, in that way, instead of calling the night/venue/dj/promoter, i find some of these sounds become new favourites (although as with anything, some leave me cold and always will) and i can eventually dance to them the next time i hear them played. Thank you to anyone who's persevered with this, i've wrote so much and said so little, (i'll put it down to the male menopause!) but i've always thought of folk i don't know at nighters/nights/weekenders as friends i've not yet been introduced to (as the Irish may say) - i would hate to think there are various factions passing snide looks & comments re peoples attire or the tracks they're dancing to...........i'm an old hippie/idealistic fool at heart who actually believes we can all get along fine if we accept and respect each others differences.

Many thanks to all, just spinning it (on you tube) before work. Like bumping into an old friend after 20 years Cheers for the help

Hi, please can anyone help, been attending nighters now since late 70's but never been one for storing much relevant info re tracks. I bought in late 80's an LP (think it was Kent) and it had a track on that was titled something like 'Walk Right by', the only other thing i can remember is it had with these eyes - Fabulous Peps on. Have just spent an hour looking through tracklists on Kent LPs to no avail. I may be off a little with the title of the track, but am desperate to hunt it down, was a slow-medium haunting ballad type Many thanks in advance

cheers so far for your help, both serious and tongue in cheek. Would really love to have the date confirmed either way.... ps; Hull Soul Do at Trades and Labour club, friendly crowd (naturally). Am nowt to do with the night, but if it's within travelling distance, good music policy and cheap beer!

****Apologies for posting one 2 forums, hoping to double my chances of an answer!***** Sorry for this, just hoping there's some soulie statto out there that can assist!. The day before Easter Monday in 1983, myself and some mates were in a serious car crash coming back from a soul do. It was Sunday 3rd April 1983, one of us insists it was Wigan Tiffanys, the other says Rotherham Tiffs. I attended Clifton Hall regulary and nearby dos like Traveller's rest at Masborough around that time, but did Rotherham Tiffs have soul dos?, or did anyone on here dj at those do's? Even if they cant be precise, info such as that maybe one of these venues didn't do Bank Holiday nighters in that year would help me eliminate. Thanks in advance, sad i know, but the icing on the cake is he's a lottery winner, and said jokingly 'if i'm wrong i'll give you a million quid' so theres some good wind up mileage in it if i'm right!

Sorry for this, just hoping there's some soulie statto out there that can assist!. The day before Easter Monday in 1983, myself and some mates were in a serious car crash coming back from a soul do. It was Sunday 3rd April 1983, one of us insists it was Wigan Tiffanys, the other says Rotherham Tiffs. I attended Clifton Hall regulary and nearby dos like Traveller's rest at Masborough around that time, but did Rotherham Tiffs have soul dos?, or did anyone on here dj at those do's? Even if they cant be precise, info such as that maybe one of these venues didn't do Bank Holiday nighters in that year would help me eliminate. Thanks in advance, sad i know, but the icing on the cake is he's a lottery winner, and said jokingly 'if i'm wrong i'll give you a million quid' so theres some good wind up mileage in it if i'm right!